Nightingale Bowden is about a paradigm shift. It’s about urban renewal, housing equity and sustainable communities. Breathe worked closely with Housing Choices Australia, the South Australian Housing Authority, Renewal SA and Nightingale Housing to make the impossible possible, a true mixed tenure Housing Model (50% social and affordable and 50% first home buyer).

The brief was to create a building designed to support a genuinely diverse cross-section of Adelaide society. Nightingale Bowden is the first of its kind in South Australia. The building comprises 34 one and two bedroom homes and two commercial spaces. The design approach needed to be one of reductionism, to create an honest building with design elements that pay homage to Bowden’s industrial past. The communal rooftop and circulation spaces needed to encourage organic interactions that strengthen the community. Nightingale Bowden is designed to achieve housing affordability, world leading sustainability and to foster a strong sense of community.

The project adopts a design and material strategy of sustainability through reductionism.

Photography by Anthony Basheer